Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 95326 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 477(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95326 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 477(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
He spotted a farmer hitching his horse to his cart when he reached the pen.
“You have food to sell?” Cavell asked.
“Take what you want,” the farmer offered out of fear and showed him what was left.
Cavell had the man put a hunk of cheese, two loaves of bread, and a few quail eggs in a sack and startled the farmer when he gave him coin for the food.
He soon had his horse ready, and he mounted and rode away from the village and into the woods, knowing he would be fodder for gossip for some time to come. Once in the woods he turned his horse and rode to the area where his wife had better be waiting for him.
That she had tricked him into consummating their vows continued to trouble him. That she could be insane troubled him, and that she had said she needed his help troubled him. But what troubled him even more was that he continued to desire her. The memory of last night lingered far too much in his mind, the softness of her body, how easily she had responded to his touch, how she had enjoyed touching him, kissing him, surrendering to him and her own desires. He would have never thought her a virgin, and yet the proof had been there.
“We’re here,” a voice called out, and Curdie stepped from behind a tree, Elsie following from behind her.
He waved his wife to him and once close, he leaned down, hooked his arm around her waist, and hoisted her up on the horse to settle her in front of him.
“Curdie,” he said when she went to walk away, and she turned. “Keep your word to me and you will have a Gallowglass warrior for a friend to help you if ever needed.”
Curdie smiled. “Then friends we are, for I can say nothing when I know nothing.”
Cavell nodded, then turned his horse and headed into the woods.
Elsie sat silently, gathering strength. Her heart pounded wildly, and fear set her insides trembling. But she would not succumb to fear, she would not wear it for all to see, and she would not let it stop her from doing what was necessary. She had to mask her fear as she often did and instead, keep an unwavering façade that belied the truth just as she had done last night. Only she never imagined that her husband would turn her gut-wrenching fear into desire, and she would share with him a night of pure bliss.
With no experience, she had followed his lead and it had become easy after he had stirred her body in ways she would have never imagined possible. She had thought one day to wed, hoped to wed, and have a family. Never, though, had she believed she would find such pleasure in the arms of an infamous Gallowglass warrior, nor did she think she would ever wed one.
She forced her fear aside and finally raised her head to speak with him, but her words caught in her throat. Seeing his scars up close had her heart aching for him. Some had been stitched but not by a skilled hand, while others had been left to heal on their own and could use some care.
He could see the disgust in her eyes and wondered if last night would have gone differently if she had been able to see his face.
Seeing how it must make him feel to stare at him, she looked away and asked, “Where do you take me?”
“I should take you back to the abbey, but you have made that impossible,” Cavell said, annoyed that he enjoyed the feel of her nestled in his arms when she obviously found his scars appalling. “Until I know for certain no seed of mine grows within you, we avoid being seen.”
And if it hadn’t, would he return her to the abbey? She would not let him do that. Never would she be locked away there again.
“I am not possessed of madness,” she said, something she had continually reminded herself of while at Dundren Abbey.
“Who sent you to the abbey and why?”
“I was told it was my da’s decision to send us there.” She shook her head. “But that makes no sense. He would have never done that.”
“Us?” he asked.
“My two sisters, Leora and Sky. I need you to help me rescue them.”
“First, I need to know more,” Cavell said, determined to get to the truth and discover if his wife talked nonsense because of her insanity or that she was not insane and spoke the truth. If she did speak the truth, then that meant someone wanted her and her sisters locked away but for what reason?
“Ask me anything,” she said, her fear abating and wondering if it was because she felt safe when in his arms as she had felt last night. Another thing she had never expected to find with a Gallowglass warrior.